Description:

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
(1882 - 1945) Thirty-second President of the United States who instituted the "New Deal" programs and who led the United States through most of World War II. An interesting from a rather desparate autograph collector, includes a T.L.S., 1p., 4to., Shaker Heights, Oct. 3, 1934, from autograph seeker Martin Miller to FDR's personal valet, Irwin McDuffie, an African-American. Miller requests McDuffie's help in obtaining Roosevelt's autograph, and tries to get chummy: "...When I was a small boy I had the good fortune to have the care of a loving 'colored mammy.' She is now quite old but I frequently cause great joy, for us both, by calling her at home... She takes great pride in my collection of autographed letters from great people throughout the world... I approach you to present a sincere request. Sometime soon, when you are aiding our great President, will you ask him to write a few words of greeting to me over his signature?..." Perhaps not surprisingly, McDuffie did not return Miller's letter. McDuffie's wife, Elizabeth, did reply at a much later date with a holographic note on verso: "...Quite some time ago you sent my husband this letter. The President does not autograph anything for people he doesn't know. So I am sending you a blotter from his desk..." True to her word, Lizzie McDuffie included in her letter Roosevelt's cardboard blotter, measuring 8" x 3", with the President's signature in reverse in several different colors of ink. A unique lot!

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May 13, 2009 10:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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